Guys, before you look at the pictures, let me emphasize that this - me posting all kinds of pictures of myself sans makeup - is an extremely rare occurrence. In fact, I don't know if it'll ever happen again, so enjoy this! ;P Only thing is I wish we had more time to shop in Montreal - we were following one of those Chinese tours (cheap prices!) so we had to hit up Ottawa too.




This one is my absolute favourite! I'm thinking I should enter this into a funny photos contest. :D The old lady picking her nose on the side totally takes the focus away from me, but for once, I don't mind. :P (Royal Canadian Mint)





My mama starring on a quarter. :D





Me as a demented quarter beaver - wait, that doesn't sound quite right! :S





Young & sweet - my, how deceptive pictures are, lol. j/k But at least hair really is good.
(at the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa)





Me & Mama with the National Something Library in the distance.





Me sipping the saltiest French onion soup in the world at Reuben's on Ste. Catherine. It was delightfully cheesy!





Me at the Montreal Eaton Centre.





Me after a successful afternoon shopping, on a runway at Les Cours Mont-Royal, a super high-end mall. This chandelier-filled historical building not only had flagships, but housed several boutiques of local designers. Sophisticated fun. ;) My vain self would like to direct your attention to the hot pink bag - it housed my Betsey Johnson purse! :D I was ecstatic to buy a cute purse at the new Betsey Johnson store at Ste. Catherine. For the entire day, salespeople were sucking up to us when they saw that thing on my shoulder. (And even more after I got my guess purse, which was in that red bag.) Random strangers stopped me and asked me where the BJ store was - and no, I'm not making it up. I was known as The Girl with the Betsey Johnson Bag! :D:D:D





We had Thai food two nights in a row - mostly because we had no idea what to have. This was night two, the better one. That's green curry on the left and shrimp pad thai on the right. Yum yum!





I have to mention that our waiter was absolutely adorable, if a little on the short side. And in true Christine fashion, my mum tipped him most generously - the behaviour is perfect proof that she's my mother, lmao! Just like the time she tipped our superhot waiter in Boston...at a buffet where he wasn't really even working our table. Man, it's so me to tip a hot waiter who wasn't even serving us, hahaha.



 

Oh how I wish I had a long, graceful swan neck. At least my skin looks good. :P (me being dumb on a Thousand Island tour boat)





The two of us on the boat. :P

'Tis the time of year to be jolly, kids, when all your exams are done. One of my favourite things about university (besides the LOVELY showers with great water pressure that you can crank on 'til it hurts) is the fact that summative projects are a thing of the past - well, unless if you're doing a Masters, then your thesis paper will take a couple years (the granddaddy of all summatives), but that's completely optional...besides, it's not for a good few years even if you choose that route.

Anyway, it gives me great pleasure (almost as much as chocolate does) to announce that I'm done for the semester and I'm coming home! :D:D:D So many people to see, so many things to buy, but so little time and money! What's a girl to do?

What's on your wishlist? I have a couple. I have one on Chapters/Amazon (books, DVDs and music) and one for American Apparel (their stuff is so basic, but I'm so drawn to it this season). Then, of course, I have my fantasy one with all the wonderful things I (and the people who buy me presents) can't afford, straight out of neimanmarcus.com, eluxury.com, bluefly.com (I'm not THAT huge of a diva :P) and, of course, harry-winston.com. Plus my wishlist for all the salon and spa services I'd like to receive, at the fantastic places I'd love to try out. The esthetics and fantasy wishlists, of course, both reside in the realm where I'm married happily to Dean Cain and we have lots of earth-shattering sex and money and a couple babies. It's also the realm where my harem of perfect men exists.

But enough about things I can only dream about. :P

Wait, no, I'm not done yet. ^.^ So I was looking through the lushest boots of the season, and I've compiled a bit of a Hot List. Who else finds the new patchwork Pollinis mind-blowingly hot? Pure sex. Ditto the embroidered suede Manolos (who am I kidding, they're Manolos), the fuzzy ankle Cole Haans (though it takes a special kind of girl with amazing legs and forgiving weather to pull those off), and, I've got to say, Dalman's microfiber is IT for minimalism if that's what you're looking for. Simple, understated ferocity. You'll understand the paradox once you've seen them. The Ferragamo suede wedges are also very simple and even look comfy (though some would say that's a bad thing). I'm also feeling the Isabella Fiore hair-calf boots. Kind of reminisicient of the Pollinis.

The fur-trim Manolos are very nice but very impractical in a way that even I wouldn't bend to, which is saying something. The Valentino mink-trims are very pretty, but really, I just can't understand having a patch of fur outside where it can't warm your leg and be seen at the same time (especially if it's real fur). That's when fashionistadom hits morality, there's a certain line. The MARC by Marc Jacob present boot is creative, but I wouldn't buy them. The metal at the top just ruins it. And the Michael Kors just look too dominatrix for me.

And the Mukluks, which I see sooo often here at Western (usually fake, but I've seen some pretty convincing ones) remind me of Dom, of course. Would anyone keel over if I confessed I almost bought a pair in mauve? Not quite as fuzzy (and obviously, some cheap brand that only costs $70), but they still embody the essence of overfuzzy boots. It's true! But in the end, I decided that I'm more sophisticated than trendy, so I settled on a nice, practical pair of tan leather Lugs instead. :P And tomorrow when I get back, I'm going to be hitting up a store I refuse to admist that I go to and picking up a pair of $20 lace-up wedges (three guesses, lol). Oh well, you've got to work with what you've got, right?

Back to planet Earth. As I was browsing the American Apparel site, I realized with pleasure that I've become so good at looking at clothes that I can tell pretty easily what's going to look nice on what kind of people (this particular instance, just me). And I realized that almost everything I picked to wish for are super low cut and scream, "I have a great rack!" You really can't blame me, though. Got to make the most out of my youth; I'm gonna be a breastfeeding mommy. Plus bigger boobs do sag faster, a girl's gotta face the facts. Anyway, any girl who's a full B or above really shouldn't do crew necks, and boat necks are pushing it. But crew necks are the bigger evil; I stay away from that as a rule...except for my yellow tee, occasionally, but that's only because they have my letters on them. Oh, and my Superman shirts because there's no rule I can't break for the man I love. :P But crew necks aren't even comfortable; I don't get why some people still like them so much.

Anyway! I hope everyone's off the hook soon too, and I can't wait to see you all again. :):):)

Xs & Os,
Me

current mood: jubilant

*note: This entry may seem like a Jumanji at first, but I promise there's an interesting anecdote at the end that corresponds to the subject title. :P

Firstly, I want to apologize to all my St. Mike's honeys that I had to break my promise and couldn't attend their Christmas concert - you guys have to believe me when I say that I really, really wanted to make it. Good thing I caught that sneak preview on Thursday though!

I was worried that I wouldn't be allowed in or something, but it was open, apparently. I remember walking in and seeing a bunch of Catholic school kiddies in the lobby with their exasperated teachers trying to keep them from bouncing off of the walls. I thought that it must be a private concert for possible feeder schools, so I took out my phone and called everyone (and made Eddie vibrate! ;P). When no one picked up, not even GC, who's wonderful - probably the best out of them all - about picking up when called, I knew that they were in the middle of the practice where everyone would be needed. So I kind just of stood there, eyed the cute doorholder guy who looked a little intimidating, and shuffled from foot to foot. I asked one of the teachers where the St. Mike's boys were, and she told me that they were straight through the door. I then bravely poked my way in, luggage and all, when to my dismay, there was another lobby-like area. The doorholder guy followed me in, and I was a little unnerved at this point.

So I sucked it up and just asked the guy where the St. Mike's guys were, he pointed me right to the door, and I asked if I was allowed to go in. He looked at me quizzically, told me, "Of course!" and held the door open for me when I struggled with my stuff. If I was allowed in, why the hell was he staring at me and following me around like I was some terrorist?

Anyway, so I went in, sat down, and listened to the rest of the concert. As usual, I tried to find each of my darlings in the choir which took me a lot longer than I'd thought I'd need, and when the concert was over, I hugged everyone, talked and hung out for a bit, then I headed back uptown.

Now! Yesterday I couldn't go to the concert because I was at the Alton Towers Christmas party, where my mum used to be a board of director (she generously continued with her job at the residents' request even though it's a volunteer job and we moved out of there when I was in grade three). We have lots of old friends there and a lot of the staff knew me since I was just a little girl. It was nice, even though most of the staff are new people. It was good times, and Bev, the president, made a wonderful production of fawning over the fact that I'm in university now and made sure everyone knew about it. :)

I've been spending a lot of time sleeping in my own supercomfy bed, in my own (compared to my dorm) ginormous room. I haven't been making snow angels and rolling around the ground this time, though. :P

Today, I saw this Christmas movie on WTN called Comfort and Joy, which inspired me so much, I'm starting to write my own fanfic! It's Lois & Clark, of course, and I can't believe that I've actually been inspired enough to want to write one, since I've always been so lazy and happy about reading other people's work that I figured that I'd never actually get down and write one of my own. Hopefully it'll turn out well. :P

Alright, so tonight was the Homelife New World's Christmas party, my mum's real estate agency. It was held at the same restaurant every year, the Golden Regency or whatever it's called, on the top floor of Pacific Mall. The food was mediocre, the atmosphere was blah (my mum and I've decided that somehow it doesn't seem as Christmasy as usual this year...maybe because we're both so busy), and there were hardly any draw prizes, which was a bummer since it's a huge attraction. They skipped right over the song I'd picked to sing (there's always a karaoke machine - it's an Asian thing :P), and the lady who said she'd sing with my mom totally ditched her, so she chickened out and another woman took over the song instead. We were also disappointed that no one really dressed up (I hate that because it shows a lack of respect for the occasion and people you're to see) because it was mainly Big6 people, and there was just a huge amount of typically Big6 things happening. If you don't get this reference, don't worry about it, it's just a rude racist remark Chinese people make against themselves.

So! The evening was only so-so for us, when at one point after dinner was over and people were dancing, this little girl was walking back to her seat with her mom and she started staring at me with wide eyes. I looked around behind me to make sure she was staring at me, which she was, and she tugged on her mom's hand. Her mom leaned down, and she whispered something in her mother's ear, and I only caught, "She's...".

I was really curious but weirded out at this point, thinking, "I'm what?" but trying to look friendly to her anyway. Her mom's face breaks out into a smile and she says to her daughter, "Go tell her!" and she nudges the girl to me. The little girl takes about half a step towards me, leans forward a bit and shyly whispers, "You're very pretty."

In my head I was like, "Awwwwwww!!!" but I tried not to look too pleased and I just gave her a big smile and said, "Thank you, sweetie!" then after a beat, "So are you!" She smiles bashfully at me, and her mom nudges her again, "She said 'So are you.' Say thank you!" The little girl thanks me, her mom smiles at me, I smile at the two of them, and they go back to their seat. My mom and aunt and aunt's friend asked me what happened and if I knew the girl, and I told them what happened.

For the rest of the night, I'd see her steal glances at me everytime she walked by, and I just thought it was the cutest thing. I think it's the ultimate compliment when a child sees something great in you, because it's so sincere and pure and innocent. It made my night. So yeah, I'm really flattered about that and I'm not even going to hide how happy the simple comment made me. It was almost more flattering than having a guy tell me I'm pretty (not that it ever happens anyway, haha), because a compliment from a child has no ulterior motives and to have a kid look up to you is just amazing. Bless her!

And bless you all!

Love,
Me
XOXOXO

---

Funny haha
Me: (huffing and puffing, towing heavy suitcases and trying to keep up with everyone) Guys! Wait up for the girl with heavy luggages!!!
Eddie: Your tits aren't THAT big, hun!

current mood: pleased

Ok, so the "it" I'm talking about probably isn't what you might be presuming right now, but it definitely is something new and a bit on the scandalous side. For the first time, I spent the night in a boy's house in a boy's bed, and yes, he was in the bed with me. But there was also someone else in there. And no, it wasn't fun at all. And to make things worse, I broke a sorority rule, because it was a frat house (most sororities forbid their sisters to stay over at frat houses). Thank goodness I'm not in trouble or kicked out or anything. But I can explain!

See, it was on the eve of Mr. Greek, Alpha Phi (my sorority)'s annual main philanthropic (charity) event (see, Kennedy ppl? I was made to be a sorority girl; I spoke about philanthropy in my grade 8 valedictory speech! :P). Mr. Greek, in a nutshell, is a frat boy beauty pageant, hence the name, and all proceeds benefit the Heart & Stroke Foundation and Alpha Phi Foundation, both organizations for cardiac care (our main aim is for women). It's our cause, and I find this especially meaningful because heart disease is the number one killer in North America.

Okay, enough plugging and back to the story.

So after Mr. Greek was over, we had VIP wristbands to The Barking Frog, a bar here. It's a bit of a convention to have VIPs after greek events and VIPs are great things; we sorority girls basically never party without'em because it means we don't have to wait in line. Waiting is annoying in itself, but there are a lot of very unclassy ppl in line, you'll often find if you're into the party scene.

So my neighbor, who's also a sorority girl but not in mine, came to our event, because greeks are supposed to support each other by attending each other's events, and just because ours is jolly fun. I mean come in, a male beauty pageant with a striptease portion, what's not to like? After the thing was over, she got a wristband and asked if I was going. I wanted to party because I haven't gone dancing in such a darned long time (since the Sigma Nu mud wrestling party, practically a month ago and it wasn't satisfying because it ended at midnight), but I thought that I should probably go home and study and do homework. My neighbor kept whining and whining even when I was helping to clean up and carrying stuff outside to the cars of my girls.

I felt bad for her because she was in the freezing cold in a miniskirt waiting for my response (even though I distinctly told her it would be stupid to be wearing a skirt in this London weather), and so I said yes to shut her up. We needed to find a ride because all of her sisters were gone already and all of mine had to bring stuff back to the sorority house. She's not a particularly cautious person, and when we saw a bunch of guys hop into a car, she ran with me to it to see if we could hitch a ride. Not a smart thing to jump into a car at night with potentially drunk boys that we don't know, but I was trying to be spontaneous and she was just being herself.

As it turns out, the guys in the car were the Phi Delts (Phi Delta Kappa, a frat). The Mercedes SUV was already filled to the brim with like 7 or 8 people in it, but seeing as we were girls, sorority ones, and seeing as how little clothes my neighbor was wearing, they readily agreed even if it meant that they'd have to squish in more. My neighbor squeezed herself into the trunk, and I was preparing to sit across the laps of everyone in the back seat or on the person sitting in the passenger seat, when suddenly, another Phi Delt comes roaring over in a car. They let us go into the empty car because we're girls, and this cute-ish Italian boy with curly hair who was second runner up in last year's Mr. Greek, jumps in with us. We were all comfortably seated, and the other car took off. (*side note: I'm pretty much over my Italian Fixation...it's sort of slowly morphing into a Portugese Fetish, but he did have his charm.)

We were having meaningless chitchat and *I* thought we were going to The Barking Frog. But they drove us to their house. I was wary at this point, and I was shooting killer looks at my neighbor - after all, she was the one who talked me into this. We went into the house with all the Phi Delts who were there to "pre-drink", even though it was past midnight. My neighbor kept whining to leave (she's a whiny type) and the guys were wavering. We walked upstairs and we went into this really nice room that looked like it came right out of the pages of the Ikea catalogue. Surprise, surprise: it belonged to Curly. We decided to chill and talk there, while the other guys were drinking, smoking and bonging.

Here's what I learned. Intelligent conversation really isn't possible with frat boys, even if they're in grad school studying to become a doctor. Or maybe it's because we're sorority girls, so they just don't want to take us seriously and we're objectified by default. Or maybe it's just because my neighbor was being such a stupid bimbo slut, typical of her sorority. I mean, she's not a smart girl to begin with, but she deliberately plays dumb to an extreme around guys.

"Like, OMIGOD, hee hee, we're sounding like such ditzes tonight, but I swear to you guys, we're actually smart." she insisted between gulps and hiccups. Speak for herself.

By 1:45, the rest of the guys, who were jealous that Curly had both the girls in his room, decided to finally hit the bar. They planned to go to Molly Bloom's, an Irish bar here with tight security. We decided not to join them because I didn't want to risk losing my ID, and because it was pointless since the bars were going to close soon anyway. The three of us continued to sit there and BS. Well, I really wanted to actually try to hold some intelligent conversation and discuss things that might matter, but my neighbor decided that she wanted to entertain us with her string of utterly meaningless and overtold anecdotes, and she wouldn't shut up. Then, we ordered a pizza and Curly played his guitar for us.

After a while, the guys finally came back. The jealous ones kept to themselves, and the ones who wanted to join in on the fun came in to hang out with us. This whole time we were being fed beers. I was buzzed after like half a beer, but they had "nothing else" to drink and I was thirsty, so I kept having more. After about 6 beers, I was surprisingly lucid and not drunk at all. I mean, I was a little gigglier than usual and the conversation topics became racier, but I felt confidently in control. Still, the convo wasn't particularly stimulating.

One of the guys, an alum, was a total chauvinistic asshole. I asked the guys if it's true that guys choose beauty over brains, and my neighbor said it must be, because guys are intimidated by smart women. Alum Guy replied, "That's not true. I've never been intimidated by any woman because no matter how smart she is, she won't be smarter than me." My neighbor went along with it and continued her ego-stroking with all the guys, including him. Then, we were talking about girls faking orgasms, when that guy said that a lot of guys fake it too, because "the truth is, most women just don't know how to please a man. Yes, they've got the equipment, but women who actually know how to use it are few and far between." I'd had enough now, and I just had to put him in his place, which I'd been itching to do since he first opened his mouth. So I says to him, I says, "You know what? I'd only care about making my man come if he meant something to me. If he was just a one-night-stand, I don't give two shits if he gets off or not."

My neighbor rolled her eyes and exchanged looks with the guys. Guess I lost brownie points on that one. :P But a woman has to respect herself, because how can she expect anyone to respect her if she doesn't? That said, some women aren't out to be respected, it's just not a priority to them.

Finally, it was getting really late (or early), and we were all really tired. My neighbor and I kind of just ended up sprawled across Curly's double bed, and I wondered how we'd leave, since the buses weren't operating at that hour, and we had no money to cab. She suggested that we just stayed there until 6 to wait for the buses to start up again, and she promptly invited the guy to sleep between us, to my chagrin. He set the alarm to 6 and climbed in after brushing his teeth.

To my horror, they started feeling each other up after about 20 minutes, with me on the same bed. I was supremely disgusted and pissed off for a couple reasons. #1: I was on the same fucking bed! How disrespectful is that? It's like I'm not even a person! #2: It was apparent sometime into the night that Curly liked me better on an intellectual level and we had more in common, but he was putting the moves on her because she was a slut, and she was stupid. Not that I would have wanted him to put the moves on me at the time, just because I have a little more class and courtesy than to engage in any kind of activities like this while there's someone else in the bed whose feelings I would have considered, and because I'd just met him that night.

Thankfully, they fell asleep after a while, and so did I. The alarm went off at 6, and the guy hit the snooze. They resumed the bed action. Then the alarm went off again, and I was so disgusted, I delcared that I was up and I went to the washroom. I took a walk around the house, trying to rein in my anger, and I went back to the room. They were going at it and broke apart when I came in. I was sickened when my nose met with the musky smell of the room. Normally I love the smell of a guy, and he was a clean one, but it was co-mingled with the stench of my neighbor's wrestler's sweat. Foul stuff. I knew that she would have put out if it was just the two of them there, and I didn't want to give either of them that satisfaction, so I declared that we're heading back to res right then, and she had to come with me because I wasn't trekking all the way back at the crack of dawn on my own. I knew I was being a bitch, but it was nothing compared to what they put me through.

The guy got us cups of water (so there was, in fact, something else to drink after all) and my neighbor kept making excuses and trying to buy time. I insisted on leaving lest we miss the bus, and then I walked out when they started "saying goodbye". It was positively frigid outside and it was awful to walk all the way, but she was colder than me in her skirt, and I figured the biting weather would wake her up, anyway. We made it back, I just tried to get into my room as fast as I could, and when I smelled the sweet smell of me in my room and noticed the stinking "couple smell" on myself, I wanted to hurl. I opened up my window even though it was cold and my heater was off, stripped down, and just let the fresh air wash the odour off of my body. I shook my hair out, spritzed on my perfume, read a bit, and finally turned the heat on and shut the window when I decided that most of the stink was gone. Then I slept for about seven hours, and I haven't seen or spoken to my neighbor since. I swear I'm never going anywhere with her again and she can freeze and die for all I care if she tries to beg me outside. She can find a guy to drive her home. 

So yeah, that was it. Not so great, but a new experience. I can't stand not being taken seriously or being objectified. I need to be mentally stimulated and respected and my mind needs to be appreciated. A lot of guys just aren't up to that.

The next day, I baked cookies with Sara, a Phi sister, and we had a nice time. I was also hanging out with Deanna (Ms. President), and everyone else as they gradually came home. The Pikes (Pi Kappa Alpha, a frat) came by to give us poinsettias, a funny Christmas card, and to sing to us, which is a tradition of theirs, I guess. It was good times, in the voice of Deanna and Blair. :P

Then the following day we had the Alpha Phi Christmas party, which was SO nice, the meal cooked by Sarah Fortune, and it was followed by Desperate Housewives.

Oh, and to everyone who cares: I'm coming home this Thursday to study for a week before my exams on the 15th and 17th, then I'm coming home on either the 17th or 18th for the break. Have your people call my people and we'll figure something out, k? K!

Love,
Me
XOXOXO

---

Me: The thing with frat boys is...ooh, sorry, no offense or anything...
Curly: What? Oh, I understand. I mean, I don't even consider myself "a frat boy".
Me: Um...but you're in a frat and you're a boy...

current mood: meh...procrastinating

Gosh, I've missed this place! I'm finally back after like three months not because I'm less busy (on the contrary, I've got exams coming up and there's a good chance I'm going to become the next Social for my sorority which means I'm going to have to plan all the parties, etc., and there are Christmas preparations and everything) but because, I think, I have a better handle on university life now. It's embarrassing, but I'm woman enough to admit it: I was overwhelmed with the transition, which is one of the biggest reasons why I stopped updating. So, this entry holds special significance to me. :)

What have I been up to? So much I don't even know where to begin...so I guess I'll just pick something and go from there. My res don said it best, I think: "A week in university is like a month." It doesn't mean I'm not having fun or anything like that, but for some odd reason, life and time seems to get drawn out, like on a soap. And sometimes the line between reality and media fantasy seems to blur and smudge:
-Got initiated! Yay! I'm finally official, paid my dues (@_@) and I ran for a few positions in the elections (bit of drama there between the girls running for pres :P). People always ask me what I "had to do" to get initiated. The answer is: sit through some formal ceremonies and memorize the secrets of the sorority. I think my sorority is the only one that strictly follows the non-hazing rule, and for that I'm really grateful.
-Survived an entire semester with a TA monster that hates my guts (and frankly, the feeling's mutual because I think she's one crazy mofo). She's like one of those ultra "feminist"-cynics gone waaay overboard. More stories about her later in person if you're so inclined. :)
-Partied and partied hard, though not quite as often as I'd like, but at least I've had time to sleep and study (haha). My girls Tiff and Lexie came to visit me from Guelph, which was great because I miss them so much, and we had a blast. I brought them to my idea of a REAL party (because at Guelph, a "party" is when you sit around in someone's room, talk, play cards and get wasted...I call that "hanging out"). I felt pretty bad after (suffice it to say that their parents would skin me alive if they found out what went on at that party) but at least they told me they enjoyed it...and I showed them a new kind of experience. :P And I got to see them, which was the most important thing. :D The party was a total sausage-fest, which was great for us girls :P, and there were these funny guys with Yellow Fever following us around. These drunk guys went "Heeey! Asian chicks!" when we walked into the tent, LMAO. We were a rare and hot commodity.
~Oh! And I met a nice guy at the party...he was good-looking but not really my type, but I danced with him for a good part of the night. He was a really good guy, which is shocking and impressive in and of itself, because many guys who party are just assholes. Hell, most straight guys are assholes. But at one point, I could feel that he was rock hard against me, which was, in all honesty, kind of gross but I guess it's flattering that I was the one who caused blood to rush to his manhood. :P Oh, and I discovered this perverse pleasure in being rude to boys I don't like who are trying to get my attention. Haha, I think this sorority girl thing is getting to my head. :P
-Dropped French! This caused such an uproar; I couldn't have predicted it. Apparently, it's just too much for people to come to terms with the fact that Christine Lam would drop any language class (and French, no less!). But I really can't do it. It's way out of my league. I can't afford to stay just for the sake of learning and completely disregard marks if I want to stay in my program AND get my OSAP scholarship (so important esp since the father's not paying child support anymore after the huge falling out midsummer), so I had to make the decision. So much for Miss Second-Place-in-the-Province, right? :P
~That resulted in me not getting to see Jess and Denise again, my friends in that class who I absolutely love, and Daniel, this guy I kind of had a crush on. I need to talk about this boy! He's the first Chinese guy I've found even remotely intriguing in a few years, and he's got these beautiful, HUGE brown eyes that make me blush and these fantastic lips that makes me itch to kiss him, and he's SO smart (such a turn-on to find a guy who can beat me at French...okay, so he's a year older and went to Toronto French School, but still!) and he's such a nice guy. He's the type who'd reach in front to hold the door for a girl and keep holding it for the next person, and his voice is so buttery, and...well, I really miss him.  I spent many a French class pretending to talk to Denise while secretly looking over her shoulder and staring at him with stars in my eyes. LOL! It was fun to have a chaste little crush on a guy after so long of not finding anyone interesting. :P

Those are all the main things I could think of, so I guess that's all that's worth mentioning. :P I have to apologize to ALL my darlings at home though, because of all the times I've come homr, I've only been able to hang out like once (and it wasn't really much of hanging out). I maintain that it's not really my fault though - my mum always has things planned and she's getting clingy and everything has to go her way when I come home, and whenever I even mention hanging out with friends she gets all bitchy. But I'm an only child and I'm away most of the time, so I guess it's understandable. But I'm gonna wrangle some time out of my three week winter break to see you guys for sure, because I'm starting to suffer from withdrawal and I'm keening over on my bed in the fetal position every night just pining over getting to see you guys again! :P

Oh! I've been feeling kind of bad lately because I've just been doing no reading and skipping a lot. The guilt was settling in hard, because I realized that for the first time ever, I'm paying for my education, so there's no excuse to not work hard. It's just that with the winter and everything, it's getting so much harder to haul myself out of bed and to class in the morning, especially when I think of the fact that no one gives half a shit if I skip...that's right, in university you can skip to your heart's content and nobody cares, because you're giving up your own money and you're the one losing and missing instruction. And instead of reading at night, which is what I'm supposed to do, I've just been screwing around, eating junk food and reading fanfics or trashy romance e-novels, talking on MSN or on the phone and doing nothing constructive except enjoying myself being lazy. Now that exams are coming up, I must make up for it all and work hard so I can answer to myself! People say that the hardest thing about university is dealing with all the freedom, and it's kind of true. Good things my grades haven't been slipping. Must fix my mistakes.

Oh, and I just had to throw in that I woke up late yesterday, went to my 12:30 Comparative Literature class and then spent the day shopping just because it's December so I get my allowance. ^.^ I spent the day just buying things (some of them necessities, in my defence). Let me tell you, the Stag Shops here are nothing like the one in TO, or Seduction. But I guess I can't compare anything commercial in London to Toronto. It wouldn't be fair. But the service is also much better at home! I also bought a ton of body moisturizers (I can't tell you how happy it makes me to have my ass smelling like mangoes! :P) and I just spent an indulgent girlie night in with myself, smelling pretty, wearing my pretty skimpy nighties with the heat cranked up, and I downed an entire 500ml carton of vanilla Haagen-Dazs. *sigh!*

Hopefully I'll be updating more regularly now!

I love and miss all of you!

Xtine
XOXOXO

current mood: satisfied

Recent Outings & Highlights (not in chronological order)
-Paint It Red
Colin’s art show was great, and I was very happy to finally see everyone again! It was really nice, and I had the yummiest chocolate cake, and everyone loved my mum’s soaps in the gift bags. I just really liked the chocolate truffle! ^.^

-STC w/ Ramir
I hadn’t seen him in a long time, so it was nice to finally get together. There was some drama and issues, but luckily he got over it by the time we went out so that we could just enjoy being better. I’m all for supporting my friends, but I only have so much patience; if the person refuses to be cheered up, I’ll just give up. Anyway, he tried to make me buy out the entire UB store, but luckily, I have good self-restraint, haha. Maybe because it’s my OWN money. But he sure had a great time manhandling my boobs to “prove a point” (“You need a push-up bra, hon! See? Then they would look like thiiis. Like this, see?”).

-CNE
Aidan had asked me at Colin’s art show if I wanted to go to the CNE, and since I haven’t been in years (and because I never refuse a chance to hang out w/ my Aidan), I said yes and so we (and Domenic) went on Monday. He brought Megan and we set off. We went to the craft building, food building, international building, then we went outside to see the infamous “Raphael”. He didn’t really do it for me, but I had a good time trying to push Aidan at him anyway. :P Then all of a sudden, we heard a squeal and saw a blur envelop Aidan. It was Iris! She and a bunch of summer school people, other friends, Patricia & her cousin, I think, were all there together, so we spent the rest of the day with them. They were really cool, and now I know who people are referring to when they mention summer school people.

But that’s not all the people we ran into. There were a couple girls Dom & Aidan knew who I can’t remember now, but I also ran into Jonathan Chan (from Bethune, a year above me, was in my English Class last year, brilliant guy) and…lo and behold, Mr. Ex #2 from grade 10.

I saw his back inside the international pavilion, and I remember either Aidan or Dom asking derisively if “that guy” was really with Toronto Fire Services. How could I miss that tattered shirt that he stubbornly wore every single day since he began co-op? I wonder how often that thing gets washed. Anyway, he has a nasty habit of pretending not to see me until I say hi, and so I thought I’d be big and mature and initiate polite greetings, like I always do. Mistake is an understatement.

I beat myself up over the fact that seeing him still affected me. It’s not that I still like him in any way, or that I’m not over him. It’s just that, after so many years of having him out of my system, it was a bit jarring to see him again. All these memories from grade 10 rushed back into me from a box that I thought would be locked away forever, you know? So I tried to push it all to the back of my mind, which didn’t work so well, apparently, because Dom asked me at the end of the day if I didn’t like the new girls I’d met because I was really subdued, according to him. I felt bad that I might have come off as a bitch. Oh well.

But! I can’t describe this day without mentioning Dom’s adventure. :P He wanted to get a pair of clubbing pants at the warehouse, but of course, there were no changerooms. So what do we do? We were resourceful! We each grabbed a couple babydoll tunics and surrounded him with them, once in the middle of an aisle and once in a corner. It was hilarious! He tried on three pairs and finally found a pair that fit nicely.

-Bloor to King
Tuesday was a big day for me, because I decided to get my perfume that day – the same one I’ve been in love with for at least a decade, although exactly how long I don’t know. Dom, Aidan, Dan and I met downtown, where Dom was looking at suits because he needs two for the Christmas cruise he’s going to (lucky bugger >.<). I got my Calyx from Holt, and then we just spent the rest of the time making our way down, and I missed World of Posters, unfortunately, so I couldn’t get my poster. >.< Oh well, I’ll go back for it. Oh! And Urban Outfitters is THE perfect dorm store. I wanted to buy everything there…then again, what else is new? :P Oh! And Dom was being mean and nasty about me and Marc being blondes, and that we’ll probably get lost if just the two of us hang out together because we can’t even recognize Yonge Street. So Marccy! We need to hang out, you and I, to prove him wrong. And if we do happen to get lost or whatever, we’ll just keep it between the two of us. :P

Funny ha-ha: When Dom’s phone rings, he goes, “Ohhh, I’m vibrating! I’m vibrating!!!”, as if he were having a contraction.

Okay, to be fair and round things out, I’ll tell you guys this too: Aidan and I were checking out pictures of underwear models at a department store because they’re so hot (sorry Aidan! :P), but we’re just cool that way. ^.~ Well actually, we were basically checking out everything male and human around us, be it pictures or actual live people. :P Great fun! :D

-Tiffy’s Chicken BBQ
Tiff graciously invited like a million of us to her house tonight to have a last get-together (God, I hate putting it that way). We had wings in several flavours, salad (well, I didn’t have any because I don't do salads :P), French bread, guacamole, spinach dip, veggie kebobs and veggie meat patties. We just all hung out and talked and it’s amazing the level of comfort I’m soaked in when I’m with them. It’s just that (and I told them this) I’ve grown so accustomed to having them around…some of them I’ve been around for over a decade. These are the people who I grew up with, who know every sordid, embarrassing, little detail about me (my goodness, I hope they’ll have mercy if and when I get famous enough for people to start interviewing them for biographies about me), and they’re just really, really close to my heart. I told them that they’re my roots, and it’s absolutely true.

Stay tuned!

XOXOXO

current mood: nostalgic

I’ve been totally slacking off in the update department lately and I know it. However, in true Christine fashion, I’ve accumulated so much to say now that one post will really kill everyone to read, so I’m going to break this up into several instalments. :P For the first time in my life, I’m viewing my laziness as a demon that I must conquer in order to achieve any/everything I want, instead of just accepting as a part of myself that will allow me to lead a more comfortable life. Hedonism isn’t so friendly, as it turns out. :/

Before we get to the good stuff though, I have some bad news: I always thought that I'd have a chance to get together with my boys one last time before I head off this Sunday, but I haven't started packing yet (which I will get to right after I post this). I decided to invite everyone over to pack and chill with me on Saturday, but my mom refused. I am coming home the first weekend after I move in, but I won't be available at all because I'll be helping my mom at a craft show. So that leaves me clueless as to when I'm going to see my boys again (luckily, I just saw all my girls tonight). And I'm enormously bummed about that. Fuck.

Now! As the title suggests, things have been relatively peachy lately and I’ve been in a very good mood (gosh, I hope I don’t jinx that :S). Even my Gung Gung (grandfather) has picked up on the fact that I seem to smile and laugh and giggle a lot more; I feel it too.

I have no explanation for it except…well, I guess it’s true when they say that there’s always a rainbow after the storm. I also think it’s absolutely true that “la vie est parsemé de petites misères” (and when it rains, it pours), but “happy things”, as I like to call them, are blessings and therefore to be celebrated. It’s just a matter of staying optimistic and being patient enough to wait for them to come.

Gosh, I’m heavy on the clichés today. :P

So with that lengthy intro, here’s the lowdown on what’s de nuevo lately:

About to Head to the Ivy-Covered Walls
I’m so excited about going to university! I feel a little burst of joy every time I think about it…which is cool, because while I used to be one of those kids that got really excited about the littlest things, I haven’t been like that in a while. So I’m having really good feelings about this. :D

Recent Purchases & Gifts!
I’m not the resident diva/shopaholic of my circle of best friends for nothin’ (excluding my fabulous guy friends, who are even bigger divas and shopaholics than I am :P). Plus I’m just unstoppable when I’m making my own money. Recent purchases include but are not limited to:

-my long-coveted, precious, sexy 100ml bottle of Prescriptives Calyx ($109, Holt Renfrew)!
I’ve wanted it since I was a little girl (damn my aunt for getting me hooked on such an expensive and rare perfume), so this has been roughly a decade-long love affair that was finally consummated. It felt so great to roll my plastic and know that I earned this and bought it for myself, and that I finally have it! ^.^ What I especially love about it is the fact that not a lot of people have it (unlike many other fragrances I want), because it’s rare (only available at Holt) and slightly more expensive than other perfumes.

-Egyptian bellydancer’s coin belt (CNE International Pavilion, $25)
It’s a bit flimsy and probably made by starving women and children, but I just couldn’t resist. I can’t wait to finally be able to take up bellydancing and do it with style! Plus I’ve always had a thing for belts.

-soft cotton tunic tees in rain and chocolate (CNE Warehouse, Sirens, $10)
$5 a shirt, come on! And the quality’s not bad either; it’s made from a fantastically breathable cotton. The rain colour is really unusual and pretty, while the brown goes with everything, and they look great on. Plus I can layer them. What a steal!

-stretchy, fitted, black corduroy blazer (Urban Behaviour, $19.90)
This jacket is so beautiful and it will go with everything! It automatically makes any outfit more stylish, and it’s comfortable and the cutting and design are so great and it was on sale… I’m so enamoured with this piece. I wanted to get it in cream originally, but I know what a terribly messy person I am, so I decided not to take the risk. Plus I can make this look formal and businesslike, and cream may be too edgy-stylish for that.

-tight, knit, cream-coloured tunic sweater with scoop-v neck (UB, $19.99)
Oh my goodness, I am so besotted with this sweater. It’s gorgeous! It’s made of this ingenious, supersoft cotton-spandex blend that has the perfect of cling to it. It makes me look like a ripe peach (because it enhances my “S” so wonderfully), and the colour really defines my hair, which is great.

I have a rule: the bigger the bosom, the lower the neckline (haha, maybe that’s why I have my reputation :P). Smaller-chested sisters should stick to higher necklines because they were made for them (girls with big boobs just look droopy in those) and should never wear anything skin-tight if they’re really lacking.

-lined, coral deep v cami (UB, $10)
I love this because this was also on sale and it’s so pretty and coral lace is a very new concept to me. It’s tight and I originally intended for it to be a clubbing top (piece #2 in my Western Clubbing and Parties Collection 2005-2006), but my mom says it’s really slutty, haha. And my mom’s usually pro-slutty, so I might as well believe her and save this one for private shows. :P

-grass-green long-sleeved Henley (Old Navy, $14.50)
I’ve wanted a Henley for the longest time and now I finally have it! I’m normally anti-Old Navy, yes, but this was such a nice colour and now I’m spending my own money, and everywhere else it would be $35 at least…

-magenta, spaghetti-strapped, lacy tunic (Old Navy $16)
I first saw these in Garage, fell in love with them and bought my white one for $20. I just knew I had to buy another one in a real colour, but by the time I went back, Garage only had this awful beige one left, so I had to look somewhere else. Meanwhile, I’ve worn my white one so much it’s starting to stretch out and fall apart (stupid cheap materials >.<). Then, I came across Old Navy one day and saw these and it immediately went down on my to-buy list (which is different from my wish list, by the way). This is made of a thicker jersey material so it’s a bit warm to wear now, but it’ll be good for later…until it starts pilling. >.< Plus the colour’s vibrant

-Dell Inspiron 6000 notebook (Dell web site, I think, roughly $1500)
Obviously I didn’t buy this for myself. It’s my new baby! And, apparently, I think 3 or 4 other close girlfriends of mine got it too, which is ultracool. ^.^ My mum and aunt decided that I needed a new laptop for uni, and so they decided to get me this (along with the help of my two other aunts). It’s a little large and heavy but it has a fantastic widescreen and I love it. I’ve been a good granddaughter lately and I lent it to my grandpa even before I used it so that he can keep tabs on his HK stocks (he’s a stockbroker) until I have to leave. I’m planning to spray paint the carrying case it came with though, because it’s so boring and ugly. 

-SanDisk Cruzer titanium USB Flash Drive (some web site, approx. $60)
My uncle gave this to me and proudly told me that because it’s made of titanium, it could get run over by a car and still be okay. Says a lot about my responsibility, huh? :P

to be continued...

In the meantime, remember I love yous and behave yourselves (to the best of your abilities :P)!

XOXO

current mood: sentimental